Cascade residents might be relieved by Friday's arrest of Terry Malcom, who allegedly embezzled about $800,000 from the Cascade Metropolitan District, but the town has a long way to go before issues surrounding its water service are solved.
Residents have complained about the quality of their water, unreasonable rates and the fact that, in...

DENVER - Colorado lawmakers backed away from an audit of the millions of dollars pledged to developments through the Regional Tourism Act on Monday and instead are asking economic development officials to come before the joint Audit Committee in June.
Rep. Dan Nordberg, R-Colorado Springs, said there wasn't enough time to complete a full...

Social media was abuzz this past weekend to find a missing war hero.
When Blackie the Belgian Malinois was in Afghanistan, he was a bomb detection dog for the military. Blackie came to Colorado Springs to live out his retirement years. After his owner gave him a bath on Thursday night at their home in the Broadmoor Bluffs area, he may have...

A driver stopped for speeding on North Academy Boulevard late Monday night in Colorado Springs had a warrant out for his arrest, as did two of his three passengers.
Colorado Springs Police also found two weapons and illegal drugs in the vehicle.
The driver, James Casey Lowe,20, was charged with felony ID theft, according to police.
One of...

A man in jail on suspicion of other crimes was pegged as the suspect in two robberies at a Colorado Springs cellphone store, police said Monday.
Rodney Lane Williams-Freeman, 21, was accused of robbing the Metro PCS at 4343 Airport Road on March 20 and March 23. Witness statements and video surveillance led police to believe the same man held...

A woman who allegedly assaulted her boyfriend during a domestic dispute on Monday afternoon was arrested early Tuesday.
Faith Grimes, 23, was arguing with her boyfriend Monday at 431 E. Willamette St., when she allegedly stabbed him in both legs with a kitchen knife, according to Colorado Springs Police.
She then threw a glass object at the...

DENVER - Republican leadership removed Rep. Gordon Klingenschmitt from one of his committee assignments Monday in response to the lawmaker's comments about a pregnant woman who was attacked in Longmont.
"I was very disturbed by Rep. Klingenschmitt's comments last week, and want to reiterate that his comments do not represent our caucus and he...

A large dose of compassion was doled out Monday by Cub Scout Pack 807 at Harrison School District 2's Giberson Elementary School. Eric Perenyi, 7, and five other Pack 807 Cub Scouts collected items for care packages to be donated to the Animal Hospital of Colorado Springs. Eric, a first-grader, is proud to have been part of the effort. "I'm...

The cause of a grass fire in a grassy area well-known for illegal target shooting has been ruled undetermined, the El Paso County Sheriff's Office said Monday.
The 2-to-3-acre fire near the Pikes Peak International Raceway March 23 was the second in about a week.
On March 15, the Donner Pass fire burned about 50 acres of grass in the same...

Volunteers from two local organizations knocked on doors around Colorado Springs on Monday in an effort to get out the vote.
For weeks, volunteers from the Citizens Project and Pikes Peak Equality Coalition - both nonpartisan civic organizations - have been sending post cards and making phone calls to encourage people to vote in the city's...

A pipe bomb found in an industrial area shut down a block of Valley Street Monday afternoon, but the El Paso County Sheriff's Office said it was rendered safe and the area is clear.
The bomb was found on the 600 block of Valley Street, near Peterson Air Force Base and the intersection of East Platte Avenue and North Powers Boulevard.
Jackie...

A man committed suicide Saturday afternoon by jumping off the Royal Gorge Bridge, according to a Monday afternoon press release by the Cañon City Police Department.
At 3:41 p.m., three minutes before RGB officials called police to report the suicide, an individual called dispatch and said a friend had made a Facebook post that stated he was...

DENVER — Gov. John Hickenlooper has signed legislation to regulate the sale of powdered alcohol in Colorado.
The bill Hickenlooper signed into law Monday gives the state's liquor enforcement division authority to regulate powdered alcohol like liquid alcohol and to tax it.
The product called Palcohol is a powder to which water is added for...

The Widefield High School Student Cabinet will host a 5K run/walk April 19 to raise money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Proceeds will benefit Shamariah, a 4-year-old Colorado Springs girl who has a rare kidney cancer. Shamariah's wish is to meet Minnie Mouse.
The event will be held at Widefield High School's C.A. Foster Stadium, 615...

Get eggs (from chickens or L'eggs; fake is fine).
Hide eggs.
Release the children.
That's how it's been done, more or less, for centuries in Europe, where the tradition of egg hunts celebrated Christianity's most important holiday in a manner and context that was oh so spring.
"Back in the Victorian days, the kids would have been really...

ACME Bar & Grill has been open for over a month at the site of the former Estela's Mexican Restaurant, 925 S. Eighth St.
The interior of ACME is rustic, warm and welcoming, and the menu is focused on comfort food like biscuits and gravy, sloppy joes, bacon-wrapped hot dogs topped with queso and jalapenos, and a giant salad in near...

Tom Harris never sleeps when it rains in Cascade. He listens to the rain and knows that if he can hear the water coming down the mountain, it's too late.
"Two weeks ago, when it rained all night up here, we didn't sleep all night," said Harris, who says he is shellshocked by memories of post-wildfire flooding along Ute Pass. "That's the way...

DENVER — The Denver Post reports politicians are studying the need for and costs of putting public toilets downtown amid a debate about what to do about people urinating in the streets of the increasingly popular heart of the city.
The Post ( http://tinyurl.com/onaldgb ) said Monday that a report from a consulting firm looking into...

DENVER — An expectant mother who lost her unborn baby after it was cut from her belly by a stranger is thanking those who have been thinking about and praying for her.
Michelle Wilkins posted a message late Sunday on the website where people have been donating money for her recovery, her first public comments since the March 18 attack in...

Mile High Youth Corps in Colorado Springs is hiring for the summer, and is looking for 18-to-24 year olds with a high school diploma or G.E.D to work on land conservation, fire mitigation, trail building and restoration projects. It's a job, a work-out and a chance to be outside, all wrapped up neatly in a summer position.
There is a $320...

Wanted:
Pikes Peak Area Crime Stoppers is asking for the public's help finding the following people for whom felony arrest warrants have been issued.
Hadi Yahya M. Alabbas, 23, is described as a 5-foot-9, 160-pound man with black hair and brown eyes. Alabbas is being sought on suspicion of ID theft.
Steven Kevari, 47, is described as a...

El Pomar Foundation's Forum for Civic Advancement is hosting a lecture on international threat assessment from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Penrose House Conference Center, 1661 Mesa Ave. Retired Air Force generals Gene Renaurt and Kevin P. Chilton will give their assessment on current and potential threats to the United States and its allies....

Two local middle school students were among the top finishers in the 2015 Colorado National Geographic State Bee. Evelyn Bodini, a seventh grader from Challenger Middle School in Academy School District 20, tied for fifth place. Ryan Blake, an eighth grader from D-20's Discovery Canyon Campus Middle School, tied for seventh place. The...

A man was hospitalized in critical condition Sunday evening after being punched at Memorial Park's skate park and hitting his head when he fell to the ground. The man, 56, was injured around 7:20 p.m. after an altercation with a 15-year-old boy at the park, near Pikes Peak Avenue and Union Boulevard, according to Colorado Springs police. The...

The westbound lanes of Interstate 70 have been closed at the Eisenhower Tunnel early Monday because of a three-vehicle crash that left at least one person with minor injuries.
The Colorado Department of Transportation announced the closure at about 6:30 a.m.
7News reports the crash involved a jackknifed semi-trailer.
CDOT did not...

The queen of the fairies is stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Should Madison Mahoney start school this fall at the University of Colorado or re-sign her contract with "Disney on Ice: Worlds of Fantasy" for a second year of touring?
The 18-year-old from Louisville has a few months to decide, but knowing that next year's tour will head...

WESTMINSTER — A man accused in the disappearance of a Pueblo teen is scheduled to enter a plea on Monday.
Twenty-three-year-old Christopher Waide is suspected in the disappearance of 19-year-old Lea Chali Porter, who was last seen while visiting Westminster, where Waide lives, in June.
Investigators have said Waide and Porter attended the...

Colorado Springs police arrested a woman early Sunday morning after she allegedly hit a man with her car.
Germenetta Dickerson, 29, went to an area on the 2800 block of E. Fountain Boulevard just after 1 a.m. on Sunday to confront a man who had assaulted her sister, police said.
Dickerson saw the man in a parking lot, threatened to kill him...

Age was no barrier for Richard "Dick" French, who, at 87, set out to build a 20-foot flagpole in the yard of his Colorado Springs home to show off his immense patriotism. For months, he talked up the project to family members and couldn't wait for the weather to warm up so he could get started. On Easter, he planned to hold a ceremony for his...

Sitting in a cramped hotel room doubling as a home, Alvertis Richardson let loose a grin as he showed off papers promising a free apartment. "It's great to be off the streets," he said. A spry 78-year-old, Richardson dozed in the day and stayed up after dark to keep from freezing to death on Colorado Springs' cold winter streets. The routine...

We all like to save money, so cards that come in the mail that claim you can save up to 75 percent off prescriptions may sound appealing. But be careful. Thanks to 11News producer Adriane, who told me about an official-looking set of coupon cards she got in the mail. But don't expect huge discounts with American Prescription Savings Alliance....

It's that time of year again, when residents around El Paso County should gear up for wildfire and flood season in Colorado.
While no one can predict disasters - and it's still too early to tell if the county might have a bad wildfire year - it's never to early to prepare.
Do you know how to protect your house from a wildfire, or flood?...

GRAND JUNCTION — A lawsuit filed by Oklahoma and Nebraska that asks the U.S. Supreme court to curtail Colorado's new recreational marijuana law could have dire consequences for all three states, Colorado Attorney General Cynthia Coffman said.
Colorado argued in a response to the lawsuit that Nebraska and Oklahoma were trying to reach across...

An off-duty Colorado Springs police officer helped and a man and his son leave a home damaged by fire on Palmer Park Boulevard on Sunday afternoon, Colorado Springs firefighters said.
Firefighters responded to a structure fire at 5119 Palmer Park Blvd. about 1 p.m. Jimmy Paladino, the off-duty officer, was walking his dog by the home and went...

DENVER — Colorado budget writers have spent months assembling the state's spending plan for next year, and this week their fellow lawmakers will begin debating, tinkering, and voting on it. The process will begin in the Senate. By Thursday, the chamber is expected to pass it over to the House. Here are some highlights from the budget, which...

LONGMONT — Police have arrested a second suspect in a stabbing in Longmont that started with a fight over a Facebook post.
Longmont police spokesman Cmdr. Jeff Satur says authorities arrested David Dominguez on Sunday. Dominguez is accused of burglary, aggravated robbery, first-degree assault, felony menacing and criminal mischief.
On...

Dirk Draper rarely backs away from a challenge, but if he hadn't done so when he was in college, he might be writing this story instead of being its subject.
Draper was a sophomore majoring in journalism at the University of Missouri when he went to the student newspaper to get experience. He was told to find a story to write about, and the...

You Asked - And We Did Too
About 20 people joined Gazette reader forums to talk about the April 7 Colorado Springs election. The Gazette is asking candidates some of the questions the people posed in stories that will run on five Sundays and will use other reader questions and comments throughout our election coverage.
The Gazette's full...

When it comes to life on the trail, former Green Beret Ray Knell relies on his team: three mules and a horse named Mustang Sally.
The ponies - as the burly, bearded Afghanistan War veteran calls them - do more than pull their weight, and they seem to take his chatter in stride.
And during their time together on backcountry outings on the...

The steady strumming of guitars accompanied marchers singing and chanting in Spanish through downtown Colorado Springs as dozens of people celebrated the legacy of the late labor advocate Cesar Chavez.
Saturday's march, which went from Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum north to Acacia Park, is part of an effort to increase awareness about the...